


untold observations

by supernovas



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-18
Updated: 2015-10-18
Packaged: 2018-04-26 21:36:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5021347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supernovas/pseuds/supernovas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Four times Asami sees Korra differently, and one time she tells her. —Korrasami snippets, featuring pro-bending, Avatar Meelo, and the Spirit World.</p>
            </blockquote>





	untold observations

**Author's Note:**

  * For [coyotesuspect](https://archiveofourown.org/users/coyotesuspect/gifts).



> Sorry for the lateness— it's my fault for getting mixed up with the times.  
> This takes place in the Avatar world as seen in LOK, but may be slightly canon-divergent at some points. Anyways, hope you enjoy!

The thing is, watching pro bending is fun. And Asami’s allowed to have fun once in a while, right? After all, there’s more to life than just math and engineering and work, even though that’s pretty important too. She should be able to take just an hour or two out of her day and enjoy watching her boyfriend exert his bending skills.

But when the Fire Ferrets step out into the arena, Asami finds her attention drawn to the new member. It’s a teenage girl, probably around her own age. She quickly identifies the girl as a waterbender, which will be a good supplement to Mako’s firebending and Bolin’s earthbending.

For someone so young, and a rookie pro-bender, the waterbender isn’t half bad. Actually, she’s rather good. She moves with a natural fluidity that stuns Asami, blocking attacks from her opponents and returning them with speed and force. Though she starts the match composed and cool, she seems to get caught up in the fight and begins to lose concentration, failing to evade an attack here or there and stumbling back a few steps.

After nearly ten minutes of fighting, with Bolin already eliminated and Mako at the very edge of the ring, the opposing team shoots a rapid fireball at the girl, only to be blocked by a sudden wall of earth. The referee blows her whistle loudly as the spectators turn to one another in confusion— hasn’t their earthbender already been eliminated?

In the ring the benders have become still. Asami sees Mako sighing and shaking his head as the waterbender slowly removes her helmet and allows the earthen mound to crumble to the floor.

“Well,” says the announcer, “it appears that the Fire Ferrets have made an illegal move. I’m not sure if that was Bolin earthbending that shield from below, or—” He suddenly stops, listening to his earpiece, then coughs. “I’ve been informed that it was not Bolin. Which means—

The Avatar has come to Republic City.

Asami’s jaw drops.

\---

Apparently mastery over every type of element does not necessarily guarantee mastery over every type of social situation.

“Come _in_ ,” Asami says. Korra stands awkwardly on the side of the pool, still clad in her everyday clothes, as Bolin splashes a frowning Mako at the edge.

The other girl gives her a sheepish smile that Asami’s come to associate with her. Korra always seems to look like she’s just done something wrong and is trying to avoid a scolding.

“I’m, uh— I just,” Korra stammers, “well, I don’t really like— I can’t, you know.”

“No, I don’t know,” Asami replies. “What’s wrong? Aren’t you a waterbender? This should be, like, your second home.”

“I’d be willing to make this _my_ second home,” Bolin declares. “Your house is totally awesome! It’s, like, a mansion!”

Asami grins. Bolin is one of the most genuine people she has ever met, and he always fills the awkward moments with one of his totally Bolin comments. “Well, why don’t you tell Korra that?” she suggests, moving closer to where Korra stands at the pool’s edge.

“ _Korrrrrraaaa_ ,” Bolin says, sounding for all the world like a corny villain from a mover. Then he abruptly changes tone. “Come in! The water’s great!”

“Do you not have a swimsuit?” Asami asks. “I’m sure you could borrow one of mine—”

“Nonono, that’s fine, I do,” Korra interrupts immediately. “I just, uh…” Her gaze flits from Asami to Mako, and Asami thinks she knows what’s going on.

“Are you alright, Korra?” Mako asks, casting her a confused look, and Asami notices just the slightest tinge of red color her cheeks.

Bolin’s also looking at her. “Didn’t you say you were gonna change before you got here?” he asks. “Did you—”

“I have an idea,” says Asami. “Let’s do something else. I can show you guys around the place; I bet you’ll like the game room. And maybe you can take a spin in the latest Satomobile.”

“Ooooh!” Bolin exclaims, eagerly rising and drying off. Mako follows him, and as Asami comes out of the pool she sees Korra smile gratefully at her.

\---

“Don’t touch me!” cries Ikki. Meelo grins at her, arms still extended, completely covered in mud and what smells a lot like sky bison manure.

“Meelo, go take a bath,” says Jinora. Without looking up from her book, she airbends some wind in Meelo’s general direction. “I can smell the bison droppings on you from here.”

“Um,” says Asami. Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo all turn to her, as if only now noticing that she’s arrived. “Is this a bad time?”

Jinora stands up. “Korra’s out with the acolytes,” she says, pointing towards the temple. “She’ll be back soon.”

There’s something about the way Jinora instantly knows why Asami’s come here that bothers the engineer. Maybe she is a little obvious. Then again, it wasn’t as if she’d come by to check in on Bumi Junior.

“Thanks,” Asami replies anyways, and figuring she doesn’t want to interrupt whatever important air acolyte stuff is going on, she decides to wait here for Korra. “So what are you guys up to?”

“We’re done with airbending training for today, so Meelo and I decided to hang out with the air bison,” Ikki explains. “But then Meelo got into an airbending competition with one of them— or at least he says it was an airbending competition, but I think he was just messing around with the poor thing, and we don’t even know the bison’s side of the story since _Jinora_ won’t translate for him for us—”

“I can’t speak air bison,” Jinora says, as if she’s had to say this many times before. “Just because—”

“Sure you can! Isn’t that what you’re doing all the time with your nose in those nerdy spirit-y books? Learning how to _communicate with the spirits of the air bison_ and, like, all the spirits in the Spirit World, and—”

“That’s not how it works,” Jinora replies plainly. She sighs.

Just then they hear footsteps approaching, and the younger kids scream, “Korra!” and jump at her. Korra wraps her arms around them, but wrinkles her nose when she lets go. “Meelo, you smell gross,” she declares, before using earthbending and waterbending to get all the mud and… other materials off his body.

“Whoa,” says Meelo. “I wish I could do earthbending. And waterbending. And firebending.” He clears his throat and strikes a dramatic, faux-authoritarian pose. “Avatar Meelo, master of the four elements. Whenever there is trouble, you can count on him to make peace throughout the world!”

“You can’t even make peace with the air bison that we live with,” Ikki retorts, and begins to re-explain the entire incident the entire incident to Korra. The Avatar laughs and ruffles Ikki’s hair, and Asami finds herself amazed at how easily Korra gets along with the kids. As a prodigy and heir to the Sato empire, Asami grew up quickly, always surrounded by people older than she was. She’s never really known how to interact with children, how to be as goofy and carefree as Korra often is.

Korra suddenly looks at her, and Asami has the feeling that she hadn’t noticed her presence. “Asami!” she cries. “Oh, man, I didn’t see you there, sorry— should we go talk somewhere else—" 

“No, it’s fine,” Asami says. She could sit here forever, watching Korra and the kids tease each other as if they all were actually siblings.

“Great!” says Korra. “Because it sounds like we have some peace to establish with those air bison. Isn’t that right, Avatar Meelo?”

“That is correct!” Meelo exclaims, saluting her. He marches off toward the bison stables, Ikki running ahead of him and Jinora trailing behind the two.

Korra pauses. “Aren’t you coming, Asami?” she asks, and Asami smiles and follows her.

\---

Korra bats away Suyin’s hands reaching to help her. “I’m fine,” she snaps, and Suyin hesitates and draws her hands back to her sides.

“Korra,” Asami says, a note of worry in her tone. She’s been out cold for three days straight, tossing and turning, feverish and sweaty.

The Avatar swings her legs so they hang off the edge of the bed and proceeds to stand up, one hand still holding the bed. “Fine, I told you,” she says, “Totally fine. Thanks, Suyin.” She gives them a lopsided grin as she approaches the door, only to stumble and collapse halfway across the room. Lin and Senna barely catch her.

“Sit down, Korra,” Asami says, as gently as she can. Korra doesn’t meet her eyes. “Please.”

“I’m sorry,” she says under her breath as Lin and Senna help her back to the bed.

 “Don’t be,” Lin replies in her usual gruff way, but Asami sees the anxious way she looks at her.

 “Do you want something to eat?” Senna asks.

 “Yeah, sure,” Korra mutters. Suyin and Senna leave, and Lin follows shortly after, mouthing watch her at Asami.

Asami sits down beside her, and Korra lets out a loud, long sigh.

“How are you feeling?” Asami asks, tentative.

“Like shit,” Korra responds. She moves to lie down on the bed, and Asami thinks about holding her hand, but doesn’t.

She considers what to say for a moment, then says, “It might take a while, but you’ll be back on your feet soon, okay?”

 Korra doesn’t reply. Asami watches her stare at the ceiling, but she looks as if she’s seeing something beyond it, and Asami wants so very badly to look into her eyes, hold her gaze, and make her believe she’s going to be okay.

 But Korra’s turned away from her now, and lies facing the bare wall. “You don’t have to wait for me,” she says, and Asami finds herself lost in all the possible meanings that statement could have. She doesn’t have to wait for Korra— for what? To eat? To be able to walk again? To become the Avatar everyone wants her to be? To realize that Asami’s in love with her? To return Asami’s feelings?

 When Asami remains silent, Korra adds, “I’ll be okay here on my own,” and she understands the quiet dismissal.

 “I’ll come back to check on you later,” Asami promises. She lets her hand rest on Korra’s arm for a moment, then rises to leave and quietly closes the door behind her.

\---

“—so when I figured out that I was altering the Spirit World just by my emotions, I had to think of good things and, like, find the light inside of me— that’s what Uncle Iroh said, anyways— and then I could calm down the rest of the spirits,” Korra explains.

 “Wow,” Asami breathes.

“Yeah, it was kinda important because, well, at one point these giant, nasty-looking spirits came at me, and I was a little kid again, right, so it’s not like I could’ve really defended myself, and they were about to attack me, but I made myself stay calm and they just kinda changed. Like, they were suddenly happy and friendly.”

“That’s incredible,” Asami tells her. She’s been completely captivated by Korra’s stories of past experiences in the Spirit World ever since the two arrived here together, and this last one is the most impressive. “ _You’re_ incredible,” she adds, before she knows what she’s saying.

 “Me? No,” Korra replies immediately. She grins sheepishly and looks away. “I mean, I was just—”

 “Korra,” Asami sighs, because she’s been wanting to say this for so long and has never known just how to. She stops walking, and so does her companion. “Korra, you’re amazing; I’ve known it since we first met.” She can feel her cheeks heating up, but she’s started and she can’t stop. “And it’s not just because you’re the Avatar, because anyone could be the Avatar, but you care so much about people, and you make them care, and you made me care. And maybe you can be a little awkward, or headstrong, but you’re also funny, and determined, and loving, and I can’t even explain how much you mean— to me.” She exhales finally, and finds it very difficult to tear her gaze away from the ground.

There’s a stunned silence, and then Korra laughs, says, “Spirits, Asami, how am I supposed to respond to that?” and then Asami is laughing too, and suddenly Korra’s lips are on hers and Asami finds herself pulling Korra deeper into the kiss.

 When they pull away, Asami smiles and whispers, “You don’t have to.”

**Author's Note:**

> (Korrasami is honestly what motivated me to watch all of ATLA and LOK over Christmas break and midterms week when I should have been studying for midterms, so this ship is clearly one of my ultimate OTPs.)  
> @coyotesuspect: It was a pleasure writing this for you! Honestly, I was interested in writing so many of your ideas that I could hardly choose. If I do end up finishing another of your prompts I'll let you know.  
> My tumblr is @sapphicwhirlwind so feel free to chat with me there if you'd like. :)


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